Manufacture of shoes



7 Feb. 23, 1937; T. s. WINNET'F MANUFACTURE SHOES Filed Jan. 30, 1935 Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITED STATE s] PArE'Nr OFFICE MANUFACTURE or snons" mas G. Winnett,

Whitman; Masa, assign'or to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. t, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 30, 1935, Seriai'No. 4,130- 10 Claims. 31. lit-146) This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of shoes having upp rs provided with'flies adapted to be closed by means of lacings or otherwise while'the shoesare being worn, and has special reference'to the practice of holding the files temporarily closed to facilitate the lasting of the shoes.

In making a shoe of the type referred to it becomesnecessary to close or partially to close the fly either before or after the upper has been placed upon the last and tohold the fly in that condition to retain the upper in shape and in" proper position upon the last throughout the various steps of the lasting operation. In the case of a lace shoe it is customary to hold'the fiy closed during the lasting by temporary fastenings such, for example. as metallic fastening devices or by'means of a cord or through one or more pairs of lacing eyelets and, after being tightened, is knottedto hold it in place. The employmentv of such fastenings is attended by certain disadvantages however,.

among which may be mentioned the expense in: cident to the manufacture and use of the fastenings themselves, or the machines used for applying them, and the time necessarily consumed in their application and removal.

' Q tape may be caused to adhere -to the upperlmerely;..'

' 40 .by the application of pressure "and s'o'that it will the shoe.

Forv the purpose of overcoming such tlisadvan tages as those just mentioned, the present invention provides an: improvement in the art of shoemaking which'involves placing a piece of adhesive tape over the fly "of a 'shoe'upper and securing the tape togportionsof the upper located at opposite sides of'the fly thereby holding the fly temporarily closed to facilitate the lasting of Preferably the adhesive tape is coated upon one side only with a pressure energizable and normally non-drying adhesive so that the function securely'toholdthe fly closed throughout the various operations incident to the lasting,

of the shoe, but may nevertheless be readily and substancethereon. As illustrated, the fly holding quicklyremoved from the upper at .the completion of the lasting operation without damaging the upper or leaving any remnants of the adhesive tape'is applied tothe lining or inner side of the upper so that it will be located between the upper and the last when-theupper has been placedon theflatter. After:thetape;hasbeen laid in place it is 'pressed against theupper with a relatively 'light pressure suflicient howeverpto hold the flyclosed or in a desired normal-condition during; handling-oi theaipper prior to the' lasting of the stresses to which it is lace which is threaded a fly holder shoe, and thereafter bonded to the upper by the application of additional and more substantial pressure, thereby holding the upper more firmly to resist the to be subjected in the lasting operation. Advantageously,- and as illustrated, this additional pressure is applied simultaneously with the application of heat and pressure to the forepart portion of the upper for the purpose of sticking the doubler or lining to Y the vamp and performinga preliminary shaping operation upon the vamp prior to the placing of "the upper upon the last.

Considered in another aspect, invention is also to be recognized as residing in a novel step product resulting from the practice of my improved method of shoemaking a strip of sheet material temporarily secured by a pressure energizable non-drying adhesive to marginal portions of the inner surface.

Fig, 1 is a plan view of the inside of the upper of a lace shoe showing the upper as it appears after the lacing fly has been closed by means of consisting of a strip oi? adhesive tape, andbefore the upper has been placed upon a last;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the outside of the upper shown in Fig. 1; and J Fig. 3 is a perspective ner'in which the apparatus operates to shape shoe uppers and,to. completethe application of the- I adhesive tape" fly holdertothe upper prior to the lasting operation.

In the drawing the invention .beenillustratedin'.itsapplication toa shoe upper l0 com- H, a leathervamp H,

prising a leather quarter a" quarter-lining--l8, a camp lining la -and a doubler 20, the doubler carrying adhesive upon its outer side and the several partshaving been assembled and stitched together inthe usual way. As indicated in Fig. 2, the doubler 20 is composed of woven napped fabric and its napped surface is disposed adjacent to the inner face of the vamp and has onthe outerportion's ofthe flbersof the nap minute discrete particles 1 of thermoplastic adhesive.- The" doubler is. held in place by the seam 22 which units the quarter and the vampbut is not at this stage otherwise secured to the vamp. 'The'quarter I2 is formed with a lacing fly 24 at each side of which is located series of eyelets-through which a lacing is to Dethreaded in the finished shoe, and a tongue 28 is secured view of a pressure apply- V ing and shaping apparatus illustrating the'manthe tape is more-securely The invention will be explained with reference d to the accompanying drawing, in which at its lower extremity to the quarter in position to underlie the fly and the eyelets.

In accordance with the present invention, as

herein illustrated, a piece of adhesive tape is manually. laid over the fly 24 of a shoe upper, the fly having-been previously closed, vor partially closed, as may be desired, and the tape pressed against those portions of the upper which are located at opposite sidesof and adjacent to the fly, before the upper is placed upon a last, so as to cause the tape to stick to the upper. As illustrated the tape 30 is applied to the quarter lining H6 at the inside of the upper so that when the upper is laterplaced upon a last the tape will be located between the upper and the tongue 28.- It is to be understood that in closing the fly the.

adjacent edges of the upper need not necessarily be brought into contact with each other as hereinshown, it being in many instances desirable that they be left more or less separated so that the fly is actually only partially closed by the socalled closing operation. It should also be understood that instead of applying the tape to a previously closed fly the fly may be closed upon the tape and that the closing of the fiy and the application of the tape may, if desired, take place after the upper has been placed upon the last but before the lasting operation takes place.

Preferably the adhesive tape fly holder 30 is coated upon one side only with a pressure energizable, normally non-drying adhesive 32 such, for. example, as the adhesive disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,760,820, granted May 27, 1930, upon applicationof R. G. Drew. Ordinarily only a relatively light pressure will be applied to the tape 30 in laying it, the pressure being sufficient, however, to hold the tape in place upon the upper during handling of the upper prior to the lasting operation, e. g., such handling as that incident to the sticking of the loosely assembled doubler or lining to the vamp and the performance of a preliminary shaping operation on the vamp prior to theplacing of the upper on the last: In order, however, to insure that the fly holding tape 30 shall be secured to the upper firmly enough to resist the stresses to which the upper is subjected in the lasting operation it is preferred to apply to the tape, and those portions of the upper upon which it is laid, an additional and substantially heavier pressure suflicient to effect a more secure bonding of the tape to the upper such as will resist the stress of the lasting operation. As herein illustrated, such additional pressure may advantageously be applied by means of apparatuswhich, in addition to completing the bonding of thetape to the upper, will apply heat and pressure to the vamp for the purpose of sticking the doubler to the vamp and also performinga preliminary shaping operation upon thevamp.

The apparatus herein illustrated as being used for the above purpose is that disclosed in a copending application Serial No. 675,375, filed June 12, 1933, in the name of H. L. Sawyer. As illustrated in Fig. 3, such an apparatus comprises a heated inner form or mold 34 and a cooperating outer form or presser member 36, the form 34 having a contoured external upper and outer surface approximately the shape of the portion of the forepart' of a shoe last to which the shoe upper will ultimately be lasted and the presser member.36 comprising an outer metallic shell having an inner face complemental to the shape for pressing the shoe upper against the form. The presser member 36 may be supported and operated in any convenient manner to press it against the form 34 and release it therefrom, the illustrated member being for that purpose provided with a pair of lugs 38 which are pivoted by pins to a pair of arms 42 which in turn are pivoted to supports 44 on which the forms are mounted. Any convenient means, such as a treadle (not shown), may be provided to swing the arms 42 downwardly to cause the presser member 36 to press the upper upon the form and springs 46 may be provided to maintain 'the presser member 36 normally in raised position.

' As shown, two heated forms 34 are provided with cooperating presser members 36 arranged for alternate operation so that one form and its-respective presser may remain in operative relation to a shoe upper while a shoe upper is being removed from and another shoe upper is being applied to the other form. Lhe illustrated apparatus, however, difiers from that shown in'the application above referred to in that the presser members 36, instead of being-cut away or notched to avoid applying pressure to the portionsof the quarter'where the fly is located, are especially' shaped to engage and apply pressure to those portions of the quarter.

After the flyholding tape 30 has been applied .to the upper,-as shown in Fig. 1, and the tongue 28 of the upper has been-restored to its normal position, as shown in Fig. 2, the upper is placed upon one of the forms 34 of the pressure applying apparatus above described. The respective presser'member 36 is then lowered into position for applying yielding pressure to the upper. The

pressure thus applied to the portions of the upper at opposite sides of the fly 24, and to the tape 30 which underlies those portions, causes the tape to become securely bonded to-the lining of the upper by means of the adhesive coating on the tape while at the same time the pressure,

together with the heat derived from the heated form 34, conforms the vamp to the form while the heat penetrates the lining and the doubler,

causing the minute discrete particles of thermo-- plastic adhesive adhering to the nap of the latter to soften or melt, thereby causing the nap to stick to the inner surface of the vamp. If the doubler has not been previously treated with thermoplastic adhesive a suitable adhesive may.

the pressure applying apparatus and is placed upon a last having an insole thereon after which the'usual lasting operation is performed in the course of which the overlasted margins of the upper are secured to the insole.

Either before or after the outsole has been applied (according to the particular process which is employed for attaching the outsole) the last must be removed, and before attempting to remove the last it is preferable to break the bond between the upper and the strip of fly holding tape and to open the fiy .to relieve the tension sticking of the tape thereto er applying heat and pressure to the upper for the purpose of pre-shaping the latter while at upon the upper. the adhesive coating upon the flyholding tape is normally non drying, the tape may be removed by pulling orpeeling the portions of the upper atopposite over, because of the character of the adhesive employed, it will be found that the inner surface of the upper which was engaged by the adhesive has not been injured in anyway by the orits removal therefrom and, further, that no'trace of the adhesive remains upon the upper.

pulled.

Having describedmy invention, what I claim as new and desire .to secure by Letters Patent off the United States is: i I

1. That improvement in methods of making shoes having uppers provided with files which consists in placing apiece of adhesive tape over the fly of a shoe upper with the adhesive side of the tape overlying portions of the upper at opposite sides of the fly, and subjecting the upper and the tape to pressure between cooperating preliminary shapat the same the forms thereby performing a ing operation upon the upper and upper., v r

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in upper assembly comprising an upper and a lining member carrying adhesive, placing a strip of adhesive'tape over portions of the upper at opposite sides of the fly, and by the application of pressure simultaneously bonding said lining memher and said tape securely to said upper.

3. That improvement in methods of makin shoes ha ving uppers provided with flies which.

consists in sticking a strip of adhesive tape-to the inner side of the portions of a shoe-upper at opposite sides of the fly thereby holding the -fly temporarily closed, lasting the upper, and subsequently opening the fly tofacilitate removal of the last by pulling said portions of the upper I away from said tape.

' 4. That improvement in methods of makin shoes which consists in closing the fly-of a shoe upper, laying a strip of adhesive tape with relatively light pressure upon those portions of the upper 'at opposite sides of the fly to hold the fly closed during handling-of the upper prior to the lasting of'the shoe, later applying more substantial pressure to the. tape and the upper and thereby securing them together more flrmly to resist the stresses to which shoe, and thereafter removing the tape from the upper. I

5. That improvement in methods of-making shoes of the type in which the upper is provided I with a fly and a'tongue which consists in clos ing, the portions of the upper at opposite sides of the fly upon a strip of adhesive tape located between the upper and the tongue,

and thereaft- On account of the fact that sides of,the;fly'from the tape. More- ,upper. I s 6. That improvementin methods of making The tape may be dis;

' pro-shape the latter closing the fl'y of a shoe elosed'by means of tween the tongue and the upper, said tape having the upper isto-be subjected in the lasting operation, lasting the the same time pressing the upper against said tape to facilitate the bonding of the tape to the shoes having up r provided with files which consists. in placing a piece of adhesive tape over the fly in the quarter of a shoe upper, pressing the tape lightly against portions of the upper located at opposite sides of the fly thereby stickto those portions of the upper and holding them in a predetermined relation to each other to facilitate the lasting of the shoe,

and thereafter placing the upper upon a form and applying heat and pressure to the upper to while simultaneously pressing the upper and said tape together with a relatively heavy pressure therebyinsuring the establishment of a more secure bond between them.

'7. That improvement in the art of shoemak ing which consists in closing the fly of a shoe upper, laying a strip of adhesive tape with; relatively light presure upon those portions of the upper at opposite sidesof the fly to hold the handling of the upper prior to I fly closed during the lasting of the shoe, subsequently applying more substantial pressure to the tape and the upper thereby securing them together more flrmly to resist the stresses to which the upper is to be subjected in the lasting operation, placing the upper upon a last, lasting the shoe, and thereafter, but beforeremoving the last from the shoe,

peeling the portions oi!v the upperat opposite sides of the fly from said tape thereby opening the fly and relieving the tension on the upper to facilitate the removal of the last;

-8. A step product consisting of a shoe upper having 'a fly and a tongue, said flybeing held a piece of tape interposed beits outer surface secured by means of adhesive to the marginal portions of the inside of the upper at .opposite sides of the fly and said tape .being so disposed that its inner surfacewill lie against said tongue when the upper is on a last.

. 9 A step product consisting of a shoe upper assembly comprising an upper and a lining. said assembly having a fly held closed by a strip of, sheet material temporarily secured by a pressure energizablenon-drying adhesive to marginal portions of the inner surface of the lining at oppositesides of the fly. I vit). That improvement in methods or making shoes which consists in closing the fly of a shoe upper assembly comprising an upper and a lining member carrying thermoplastic adhesive, placing a strip 7 upper at oppositesides of the fly, and by the application of heat and pressure simultaneously bonding said lining member and said tape se-- cureiy to said upper.

of adhesive tape over portions of the CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 3,071,775; February 23, 1937.

THOMAS o. WINNETT.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above, numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1,

' second column, line 17, beginning with the words "a strip" strike out all to and including "surface" in line 20; line 40, for camp" read vamp; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same 'may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.-

Signed and sealed this 39th day of- March, A. D. 1957.

i v I Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of 'Patenta. 

